Senate Dems Introduce Clean DHS Funding Bill
Senate Appropriations ranking member Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., introduced a “clean” Department of Homeland Security funding bill for fiscal year 2015 on Jan. 28, alongside Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. The bill, S-272 (here), omits the riders included in the House-passed DHS funding legislation that would scale back President Barack Obama’s November executive action on immigration. The Senate legislation would provide funding for 21,370 Border Patrol agents and 23,775 CBP officers, the same levels authorized in the House legislation, HR-240 (here).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Mikulski highlighted the bill’s increase, compared to the House, in the overall funding allocated to CBP. The Senate measure would give CBP more than $12.5 billion in appropriations, Mikulski said in a summary of the bill (here), but both bills would give the agency nearly $500 million for the operation and improvement of automated systems, including nearly $150 million for the development of the Automated Commercial Environment.
President Barack Obama threatened a veto recently on the House DHS funding bill, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., vowed to consider that legislation on the Senate floor (see 1501260010). Following the introduction of the Senate bill, White House spokesman Eric Schultz renewed the White House’s veto pledge on Jan. 28 in a press briefing. “Republicans have a choice to make right now. They can decide to either refight an old political battle over the president’s executive actions on immigration, or they can choose to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security,” said Schultz. “They fought very hard for control of power in both chambers -- the House of Representatives and the Senate -- and it’s now time for them to step up and govern.”
Shaheen urged lawmakers to rally around her legislation in order to safeguard the U.S. from international security threats. “We should not play politics with resources that protect our national security and fund the Department of Homeland Security,” Shaheen said in a statement (here). “Using this funding as a political bargaining chip is irresponsible and jeopardizes critical resources that keep our country safe."